Fairy Tail: The Everlasting Bonds
by BlueGreen25
Summary: It's been almost two years since anyone has seen Lucy, however, that's about to change. Once they find her, what will happen? Does Lucy still have to worry about a warning that was given to her almost two years ago? Why did she disappear in the first place?
1. Chapter 1

"LUUCCCY—!"

Natsu woke up abruptly. He took off the pink covers and threw them onto the floor. He slowly got up and made his way to the kitchen. Once there, he got himself a glass of water; he drank it in a single gulp. He began to rub his eyes with his forearm.

"Natsu?" Happy, who was woken up when Natsu threw the covers and him on the floor, flew over to his friend.

Natsu looked over at the blue exceed. "You're awake?"

Happy decided to leave out the comment that Natsu was the one that woke him up and rather addressed something more important. "Did you have another dream about Lushii?"

"Yea…"

The exceed looked at him with sorrowful expression, he never knew exactly what to say when Natsu got like this. "Let's go back to sleep Natsu. We need to wake up early tomorrow to go on a mission to pay Lushii's rent."

"Yea…" He then gave the exceed a smile, "After all, Lucy could come back any minute now! She'll start whining if she finds out she owes rent money." Natsu headed back to Lucy's bed. He laid there, thinking about everything that has been on his mind.

Almost two years prior, he had started getting feelings for his best friend, Lucy Heartfilia. Those feelings were always there, but he being a dense idiot, didn't begin to figure it out until way later. He remembered Lucy's surprise party that he and the others set up, he remembered her bright smile as she was surrounded by her friends. He also remembered giving her the gate key of that weird talking crown, as well as saving her at that party from a falling chandelier. Natsu also remembered the time she went on a mission without him, he was upset, but when he heard her perform along with team Shadow Gear, he couldn't help but smile. He then thought back to the time when he drank that potion and turned into a little kid again, it was probably his favorite memory not only because he got to spend so much time with Lucy, but also because he got to see Lucy smile again, not to mention that he finally found a moving object that wouldn't make him want to throw up. He also remembered his jealousy, and how in the end, it got the best of him. He remembered seeing a tear roll down her cheek. He had made her cry, he could never forgive himself for that...

Natsu gave a loud yawn. He adjusted himself on the bed. The last thing he thought of before he went to sleep was all the times he had saved her. He felt his heart begin to burn…he couldn't save her that time…but he hasn't lost hope. He still feels Lucy and waits for her to return.

Again, Natsu woke up abruptly. It was as if he had gotten any sleep at all. As he rose up, he found Happy awake already. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I was eating," Happy explained.

"Without me!?"

"Aye! I was going to wait for you, but then I didn't."

Natsu sighed and went into the kitchen. He went through Lucy's refrigerator and helped himself to some food.

Once he was done, he and Happy headed out to the guild. They got there in no time and headed straight to the request board.

The guild itself, hadn't changed much. Fairy Tail was still as grand as ever, however, its liveliness wasn't what it used to be. Many of the people were still upset over what happened to Lucy, but others had learned to cope with it.

"Were taking this mission Mira," Natsu told her as he gave her the request.

"Ara, ara. This is in Hargeon," She commented as she handed the paper back to him.

He nodded. "Yea! We haven't been there in a long time, right Happy?"

"Aye! Natsu, remember not to destroy anything. We need this money for Lushii's rent," Happy told him.

"Yea, yea I know. Come on Happy, let's go!" He turned back. "See you later Mira!"

Mira waved at them as they walked out. She was happy that Natsu was doing much better now. At first, he shunned everyone and blamed himself heavily for what had happened, however, Mira and other people within the guild didn't let him stand for it. To Mira, it was as if she had lost her little sister all over again. Seeing Lucy disappear just like she had seen Lisanna do so many years back made Mira break down and cry, but even so, it made her realize that there was hope. Like Lisanna, maybe Lucy would come back to them. She sincerely hopes that it is the same, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel that she was somehow wrong in feeling so.

"Salamander's wasting his time." Everyone turned to look at Gajeel. He was sitting down in a table by himself, with the exception of Pantherlily by his side. He placed his feet on top of the table when he spoke again. "Bunny girl's not coming back. She died right in front of our eyes."

In another table, almost right across from Gajeel's, Levy slammed her hands on the table top. "Lu-chan isn't dead!"

Gajeel narrowed his eyes. "Who are you trying to kid? You were there when it happened. That girl's dead, she's been dead for almost two years already!"

The guild got quiet. "You're wrong…" Levy rose from her seat and walked over to him. "Stop spitting out lies!"

Gajeel got up. "They aren't lies you bookworm." He turned to look at the rest of his guild mates. "They can tell you that I'm right."

Mira stopped thinking for a while and looked over at the two with a sad smile. "Please stop with this."

Gajeel turned to look at her. "You're just as delusional as them! Can't you dumbasses just accept it and move on?"

"Gajeel-kun is right…" Juvia began, "Lucy is gone…"

Levy stared at the water mage with disbelief, she could handle Gajeel's insensitive comments but not anyone else's. "Not you too Juvia!"

Gray stood by Juvia's side as she received criticism from some of the people in the guild. "Oi. We all have different opinions on what we think happened, but I'll kick your guys' asses if you glare at her again."

Juvia looked up at him with a grateful look in her eyes. "Gray-sama…"

Erza rose from her seat. Initially, she didn't want to partake in this discussion. It was a constant problem that was always addressed at their guild, and throughout time, it only got worse. The scarlet headed mage used one of her swords to cut the table in half, earning her the attention of the two-sided bickering guild. "This needs to stop." She looked at all of them with a serious expression, "The constant arguing needs to end. What would Lucy say if she were here? What would she say if she knew that this was all because of her?"

The members looked down, ashamed at their bickering; Levy began to tear up. "Lu-chan…"

"Lucy would surely blame herself for this, she would start crying if she knew that her beloved guild members were fighting because of her," Erza then wore a sorrowful expression. "I know that we all miss her, but we have to keep moving forward. That is what Fairy Tail does, that is what Lucy did when she found out her mother and then her father, had died. She didn't continue mourning, instead, she continued to smile and make the best out of this world."

"But Erza…" Mira began, "Lisanna was also gone for a long time and now look! She's here again. The same could be true for—"

Lisanna interrupted her. "Mira-nee is right! If I was able to stay alive, then Lucy should be able to as well!"

"Edolas doesn't have any more magic," Pantherlily told her. "You should know that."

"That's right!" Macao told them. "Where do you think she would go?"

"Dad…" Romeo began.

"But Lu-chan…"

Wendy came up to the girl and gave her a hug. "Sorry. I should have said something sooner about Lucy-san being in trouble…"

Levy wiped her tears and hugged the small dragon slayer. "It's not your fault."

"I think it's time for you shitty brats to realize that one of our dear nakama is gone," Master began to say from the bar counter. "Wherever she is, may she be happy always."

Everyone looked at everyone else as Master said this. It's true, they now realized that they were thinking of their own feelings rather than anyone else's feelings. It was time that they overcame this, together.

Mira smiled. "Master and Erza are right. We need to accept that Lucy is gone, and hope that she is happy." She then hugged Lisanna.

Gajeel scratched his head, and glanced over at Levy for a short while. "I'm sorry for being insensitive."

"We just need to move forward," Cana said with a grin as she picked up her first beer mug in what seemed to be more over a year.

The guild then began to have one of their lively parties. People who haven't spoken in a while started to apologize and share drinks. For now, it appeared that the guild hadn't changed at all to begin with. Not everyone in the guild was ready to accept the fact that their beloved nakama was gone, some of them were hesitant, however, they tried to do what they thought was best for Fairy Tail.

"What are we going to do about Natsu-san?" Wendy asked.

"You're right about that Wendy. He is convinced that she's still out there," Carla commented.

Mira set down the mug she was cleaning. "You're both right. I don't think he'll like the idea that we all decided to move forward."

Lisanna, who was sitting next to Wendy, Carla, and Levy on the counter in front of Mira, sighed. "I kind of feel a little jealous that when I was gone, he forgot about me right away…"

"What are you trying to say?" Mira asked a bit surprised.

Lisanna smiled. "Nothing…I just wish for Lucy to come back."

Levy then spoke. "You still think?"

Lisanna nodded. "After all, we only saw a bright light, nothing else."

"I feel we shouldn't get our hopes up though," Mira said, "I've been thinking about it, but if we believe it and it turns out to be false, I don't think I would be able to overcome it."

"You've got us there Mira-san," Wendy told her as Carla nodded in agreement.

"I don't care, I still believe in Lu-chan." As Levy finished up her sentence, she was approached by Gajeel.

"Shrimp…" He began.

Levy rose from her seat and sighed deeply. "If you're here to apologize, then don't. I forgive you."

Gajeel blinked. "You do?"

"Yes," She told him.

"Then that means—"

She interrupted him. "No. It won't go back to the way it used to. You didn't want to believe in me…you were insensitive through the whole thing. I believe in Lu-chan still and you don't, we're stuck there."

Gajeel saw her walk off with Jet and Droy. He took the seat where Levy had been and sighed.

Mira giggled. "Ara, ara, don't worry, you'll get her back."

He placed his elbow on the counter, no longer slouching in his seat. "You think so?"

"Good luck Gajeel!" Lisanna told him as he walked out. She then turned to Mira. "Do you have anything planned Mira-nee?"

"At the moment nothing," She confessed with a small sigh.

* * *

**-With Natsu and Happy-**

Natsu and Happy had just finished getting their reward for a job well done. They were walking towards the train station which was a little while along the way.

"Natsu," Happy whined to his partner as they continued walking, "Can't we stop to get something to eat before we leave?"

"Weren't you the one who said you wanted to leave?"

"I change my mind," The exceed told him.

Natsu shook his head, but then complied when he heard his stomach growl.

The two walked into a restaurant and sat down. They then got a table's worth of food and began chowing down.

Once Natsu was done, he patted his full stomach and looked around. "Hey Happy, isn't this the restaurant that Lucy brought us to the first time we met?"

Happy observed the place. "Aye! You're right! She paid for all the food we ate that day too, while we did nothing in return."

"Yea…let's start walking to the train station."

As they walked towards the station, Happy saw that Natsu still had his serious face and decided to take the opportunity to say something he had been thinking about for a while. "Natsu?"

"What is it Happy?"

The blue exceed then responded with a question. "Why don't we start looking for Lushii instead of waiting for her to come back on her own?"

Natsu thought about it, and wished he had thought about doing this sooner. "You're right…She's probably lost or something!"

Happy agreed with him instantly, "Aye! She has no sense of direction!"

Natsu scratched his head. "Where should we start looking for her?"

"I don't know, if you were Lushii, where would you be?"

"Hmm…" Natsu closed his eyes as he began to think, while in deep thought, he forgot that he was still walking and therefore collided with someone. He felt a girl's warm body pressed against his as his back was on the cold stone floor. The girl's body, as well as her scent, felt so familiar to him.

"Kya! What are you doing!?" The girl shrieked as she felt Natsu placing his hands on her body. She quickly shoved him away from her.

"Natsu, what's wrong?" Happy asked as he flew to his partner who was now on the ground. He was about to ask Natsu once more if something was wrong until he saw the person in front of him.

Natsu's eyes widened as well as he stared at the blond girl that was on the floor, only a couple of meters away from him. "No way…Lucy!?"

* * *

**Hi! Just like I said, here's the sequel to The Unbreakable Bonds, I'm glad I got a chance to post it up. I hope you guys enjoy, thank you for the read.**

***side note: you don't really have to read the first one to understand this one.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Lucy!?" Natsu said again.

The blond girl was on the floor, dusting herself off. She had on a white cardigan over her blue shirt and a black skirt, she also wore some plain black shoes; her hair was loose. She suddenly stood up and walked over to Natsu. She held out her left hand. "Are you okay?"

He took her hand as he look straight into her brown orbs and that's when he pulled her into an embrace.

Happy sniggered in the background as he watched the two.

"W-what are you doing!?" The girl tried to pull away from him, which only made Natsu tighten his grip.

He finally released her. "Lucy…"

She scooted as far away from him as possible. "W-who are you?"

Natsu walked over to her. "Don't you remember me Lucy?"

The girl hid behind one of the nearby buildings. "Are you an idiot!?" She called out to him. "Who hugs random strangers on the street!?'

Natsu looked at her in confusion. "But Lucy—"

"My name isn't Lucy!"

Natsu turned to Happy, who had stopped sniggering and was now trying to grab his attention. "I don't think that's Lushii after all…"

"Huh? Of course it's Lucy! She looks, feels, and smells the same, right—" He turned to look at the girl when he realized that she was walking away. He grabbed her by the wrist, "Hey!"

"L-let go!"

"But Lucy…Fairy Tail's waiting for your return…"

"My name isn't Lucy!" She then looked at him with slight confusion, "And why would Fairy Tail be waiting for me? I have no magic!"

That's when Natsu let her go. "What?"

"I don't have any magic!"

Happy looked up at the two and then looked closely at the girl's right hand, there was a bandage on it. He tugged on her leg to catch her attention.

The girl looked down at Happy. "Huh?"

"Did something happen to your hand?" Happy asked.

The girl crouched down to show him her hand. "It's nothing serious. It's just...I have to keep it on. It's a magic bandage, so as long as I have it on my hand, I should be okay," She smiled at the exceed.

Happy then got teary eyed. "Wahh!"

"Ah, is something wrong!?" She asked with concern as the small cat began to cry.

Natsu stepped in. "You even react like her…"

She hit her hand with her fist lightly as a way of realizing what was wrong. "I see now. I remind you of this Lucy girl right? That's why you suddenly hugged me!" She then laughed nervously, "Sorry for the confusion."

Happy stopped crying and saw Natsu frowning. "If you're not Lucy, then who are you?"

"I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Dawn," She gave them a small wave, "Nice to meet you um…"

"I'm Natsu and this is Happy," Natsu told her bluntly.

"Are you looking for your friend?" She asked them both.

"She's been gone for a long time," Happy told her.

"I-I'm sorry. I probably made you two get your hopes up. Does she really look like me?" Dawn asked with curiosity that there was someone who looked exactly like her.

"In every way," Natsu and Happy sulked.

"H-hey! Don't get upset!" She told them. "I know, what if I help you look for her? I probably can't do much with no magic and all, but since I look like her, we can ask people if they've seen someone that looks like me."

Natsu looked at her. "That would make looking for Lucy easier…" He then gave it some thought, "Okay, you can help, right Happy?"

"Aye?" Happy replied, showing signs of hesitation.

"Then that means we're friends right?" Dawn asked them both.

Natsu's eyes widened as he replied. "Sure..."

"That's great! I don't have any friends you know? I usually don't go out much, but I'm glad I did today," She smiled at them.

Natsu turned the other direction. "So where do you live? We'll come pick you up tomorrow so we can start looking."

Dawn shook her head and made an X with her hands. "I'll go to Fairy Tail and meet you there," She told them.

"You will?"

She nodded. "I always wanted to go to a mage guild! It will be fun!"

"Are you sure?" Natsu asked.

"You won't get lost?" Happy asked.

Though Dawn didn't go out much, she really wanted to go on her own journey, even if it's only temporary. "Don't worry. I'll meet you guys tomorrow okay?"

"Okay…"

Just like that, Dawn waved them good-bye and walked away.

"She really looks a lot like her…" Happy told Natsu.

Natsu smiled, "She is her."

Happy widened his eyes in shock. "Then why are you letting her help us look for Lushii!?"

"Duh, it was a lie. I'm already sure she's Lucy."

"Then what's the point?" Happy asked his idiot partner.

"Somehow, she forgot about us, I just want to help her remember," He said in a serious tone. "You know that it's her too right?"

Happy thought back to Dawn's smile, as well as the bandage over her hand. "Aye…I think it is Lushii."

"Great, now let's go tell the guild!"

* * *

**-With Dawn-**

Dawn had just entered a tiny house. She took off her cardigan and placed it on the coat rack. She went towards the sofa and took a seat.

"Dawn-chan?"

An old woman and an old man came from one of the doorways. "Home so soon?" The old woman asked as she and her husband took a seat beside her.

Dawn nodded.

"I was worried! You took longer than I thought you would," The old woman gave her a hug.

"Did you meet any interesting people?" The old man asked.

Dawn nodded. "Sorry Obaasan," She said as she looked at the old woman. She then turned to the old man. "Yes Ojiisan. I ran into a boy and his cat."

"What were their names?" Ojiisan asked with curiosity.

"Eh? Their names were Natsu and Happy, they're from Fairy Tail, the famous mage guild I told you about." With that said, they witnessed Dawn's smiling face. "They were really nice," She then made a slight pout, "Though they confused me for someone else."

Obaasan gave a small laugh at the girl's reaction. "Who did they confuse you for?"

"For their friend Lucy." Dawn held her hands close to her heart, "For some strange reason, I felt happy being near them, even if they did mistake me for her." She looked at the two, "Which is why I wanted to tell you that I'm going to go help them look for their friend."

Both of them gave her a hug, a hug that felt as if Dawn was their daughter and Obaasan and Ojiisan were her parents. "We knew this day would come," Obaasan told her.

"Eh?"

Ojiisan tried to clear things up for the confused girl by saying, "A day when you would leave on your own journey."

"Y-you don't have to worry. I won't be gone for a long time," Dawn told them.

Obaasan got up. "I will go prepare your backpack with your things."

Dawn was about to get up, only to be stopped by Ojiisan. She sat right back down as he began to speak. "Since me and Obaasan found you that one day, we have always treated you like you were a part of our family. Like a granddaughter, no like a daughter, we love you very much."

"Ojiisan…" Dawn began.

"We don't know why you were so injured that day, but as the sun began to rise, we saw how it made you shine so brightly Dawn-chan," He smiled at her.

Dawn was about to add something when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Obaasan intervened. "We knew from that moment that you were special," She handed Dawn her bag. "Now, you want to get going. The last train leaves in half an hour."

"But I will come back! Though I don't remember anything about my past, I know that both of you have took good care of me for almost two years," Dawn bowed, "Thank you so much! I love you both."

The old man and woman smiled as they lead her out the door. They then told her that they wanted to stay with her for a little bit longer, so they walked her to the station. Once they were there, they said their farewells.

"Now remember Dawn-chan, the doctor said that your hand was still in grave condition. You can't take off the bandage for any reason, okay?" Obaasan told her worryingly.

Dawn nodded. "Okay."

"Don't forget to visit," Ojiisan told her.

Dawn smiled at the two people who took her in at her time of need, the time when she was hurt the most. She wiped the tears falling from her face. "Yes! See you and again, thank you!"

* * *

**-At the Guild-**

Natsu slammed the doors of the guild open, causing everyone to turn and look his way. He walked inside with a big grin on his face, Happy following in after him.

"What's with that stupid look flame brain?" Gray asked him.

Natsu was a bit surprised, it's been a long time since he and Gray had a fight, however, this didn't last due to Natsu's habit. "Shut up ice bastard! I have something I need to say."

"What is it Natsu-san?" Wendy asked.

Natsu smiled. "I found Lucy."

"EH!?" The whole guild went as he made this announcement. They looked at each other in astonishment, somehow this was all too sudden. They had just agreed to move forward for crying out loud!

"Happy, is he serious?" Lisanna asked.

"Aye! We saw Lushii!"

Erza grabbed Natsu from his shirt. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. I talked to her."

"Are you sure it was her flame brain and not your imagination going nuts?" Gray asked him, unwilling to believe Natsu's words.

"Shut up ice breath! I know who I saw, and I'm telling you it's Lucy!" He said with such certainty that made Levy and a few other people start cracking a smile.

Levy now wore a full smile. "What did Lu-chan say?"

"She said that her name isn't Lucy and that she doesn't have any magic," He bluntly replied to the solid script mage.

"Are you stupid!?" Natsu heard some of the members yell out simultaneously.

"What? She just doesn't remember who she is, right Happy?"

"Aye!"

"You're pulling our leg Natsu," Erza said with furry at her guild mate's stupidity.

"What? No I'm not. My hands are right here," He said.

"It's an expression dumbass!"

"Shut up Gray!" He then sighed, and in a low voice said, "Why don't you guys believe me?"

His guild mates looked at him with even more disbelief. A part of them wanted to believe Natsu, his expression was, at the moment, so sincere, as if he truly believes with all the fibers in his body that he saw Lucy, however, knowing that he was an idiot often, they didn't want to. Besides, they couldn't ignore the fact that earlier today, they had decided together as a guild to move forward.

"No," Natsu told them as he heard of their earlier discussion, "I promised Lucy I'd never forget her. Just wait till tomorrow. You'll definitely believe me then when she comes here."

With that, Natsu walked out the guild. Happy said his good-byes to them and followed Natsu out the very doors they had come in through.

* * *

**I'm really happy with everyone's response to my story :) Thanks for the read!**


	3. Chapter 3

Dawn got off the train, heading straight out the station. She had a good guess as to which direction would lead her to Fairy Tail, however, she did stop a couple of times to ask for directions. Each time she would ask, most of the people would give her strange looks, making her more and more reluctant to ask. A while later, she arrived. She saw Natsu waiting outside the guild doors, apparently in deep thought, for he didn't seem to notice Dawn's presence at the current moment. "Hi," She smiled at him.

"Lu—" He stopped himself mid-way, rubbing the back of his head in the process. "Let's go inside."

Giving him an odd look, Dawn followed him inside the guild. Once she was inside, her eyes widened with delight and amazement. "This is a mage guild…" Dawn continued to look around the guild, taking note of the interaction between the guild mates. For the most part, they all looked like they were having fun; the liveliness atmosphere was highly evident.

Natsu eyed her. "Do you like it?"

"Y-yes." Dawn continued looking at the guild. The more she saw the people, the more she had the urge to interact with them. She got a strange feeling inside her chest; she felt like she wanted to befriend these people and talk with them, sit with them, be with them.

"You can go say hi if you want."

She blushed a little. "Eh? I can?"

He gave her a small push forward. "Go for it."

Dawn minded Natsu's words and went to say hello. She decided to first walk up to a table where Levy was reading a book with much interest. "Is it interesting?" Dawn asked her.

"Yes. I just got to the part where—" Levy looked up and her eyes widened.

The blond girl placed her hands up in defense. "Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to disturb your reading…it's just…"

"Ah! It's okay!"

"I saw that book in the library in Hargeon and—" Dawn was interrupted by Levy this time. The solid script mage had jumped out of her seat and gave the blond a big hug. "I-is everything okay?" Dawn asked with slight confusion.

The words Natsu had said yesterday echoed in Levy's head; she wanted to cry. This girl in front of her, now she was also sure that it was Lucy. She couldn't control the overflowing feelings as her best friend stood in front of her. "Lu-chan!"

Levy's sudden outburst got the attention of the rest of the guild. The liveliness ceased as the whole guild got quiet. "Lucy!?" They exclaimed in pure harmony.

Dawn rubbed her arm as she gave the guild an apologetic smile. "Sorry… I'm not her…" Dawn then felt a pat on her back. As she looked up, she saw Erza smiling at her.

"There's no need to apologize."

"R-right sorry—" Dawn quickly covered her mouth.

Levy giggled at her action. "Sorry, for the weirdness," She held out her hand, "My name is Levy, what's yours?"

"Dawn," She replied as she accepted her hand.

"Is it okay if I call you Da-chan?"

Dawn smiled, "Sure and I'll call you Levy-chan!"

At that very moment, the guild knew what Natsu had said yesterday was absolute. However, some of them were still hesitant to approach the blond.

"Now really," Erza said as she looked at her dumbfounded guild mates. She turned to Dawn. "I'm Erza, now sit."

Dawn's body automatically listened, she didn't know why, but she felt the need to listen to the scarlet head woman…or else.

It was then when Dawn was approached by Mira. "I'm Mirajane," She said smiling at her.

"Mira—"

Mira quickly embraced her. "Yes! You can call me that!"

The rest of the Fairy Tail guild, soon began to crowd around her. They began trying to interact with her. An uncomfortable look appeared on Dawn's face due to the uttermost attention she was now receiving.

Natsu, who had been standing there watching, saw the slight uncomfortable look on Dawn's face. "Hey!" Natsu said dragging her away from his guild mates.

"Wait Natsu! What do you think you're doing!?" His guild mates told him as he ran off with Dawn outside.

Natsu let go of Dawn's wrist. "Sorry… They're crazy."

Dawn giggled, "It's okay. They were really friendly!"

Natsu gave her a small grin, "You know—"

"Natsu! Run!" Happy came out of the guild, with Erza and some of the other members trying to run after him. "Everyone is coming after you!"

Natsu grabbed Dawn's wrist again. "Come with me!"

For a second, Dawn felt a slight tug in her heart. As she continued to follow Natsu, specs of a familiar feeling began floating in the evening air.

* * *

**-At Natsu's House-**

Subconsciously, Natsu had brought Dawn to his house. He mentally slapped himself. "Crap. I wasn't supposed to bring her here…"

"It's such a mess!" Dawn said as she looked around at the limited amount of room to walk freely. Most of the furniture was covered with some sort of object, like dishes and clothes, except for one small stool. On top of the stool was a small red box with a white ribbon on it. Before she could say anything on the thing that had caught her eye, Happy came flying through the door.

"Waah! Erza's scary!"

"Did they give up already?" Natsu asked.

"Aye. It is late after all." Happy then looked at Dawn. "Are you going to sleepover?"

"I don't want to be a bother," She explained as she headed towards the door, "I'll look for a hotel or something."

"No!" Natsu told her as he pushed away from the exit. "You can sleep in the couch."

"But—"

Natsu began moving all the items that were on the couch to some pile across the room. "It's more comfortable than it looks," He said in an effort to persuade her.

Dawn shook her head, "It's fine really. We're going to see each other tomorrow anyways."

"If I give you this fish, will you stay with us?" Happy asked as he held up the fish to Dawn.

Dawn patted the small cat on the head and sighed. "Fine, but only for one night."

"Hooray!" They cheered.

"…Hey, what's that?" Dawn pointed to the wall that was covered in all the missions Natsu and Happy had taken.

"Oh, those are all the missions we took."

Dawn took a closer look at one of the requests that caught her eyes. "The quest I performed with Lucy for the first time…"

Happy sat down on probably the only clean side of the floor. "Aye! We tricked her into coming with us."

Dawn frown, leading Natsu to laugh as he also took a seat on the floor. "She was a real weirdo," He said while smiling.

Dawn took a seat next to Natsu and Happy, not really minding the mess as much as before. "Hey, how did you meet?"

"Meet who?" Natsu asked Dawn.

"Lucy. How did you meet her?"

"In Hargeon."

"In Hargeon?" She questioned with disbelief. "How did that happen?"

"She was under some type of spell when me and Happy came to check if Igneel was there, but it turned out to be some fake."

"He went by the name of Salamander when we first met him. His real name was Bora the Prominence," Happy finished.

Dawn placed a hand on her chin. "Hmm…Bora…somehow I feel like I've heard that name more than once…"

Natsu's ears perked up, he then got closer to the blond girl. "You do!?"

Dawn backed up a little. "Well it sounds familiar anyways."

Happy then started to curl up next to Dawn.

"Happy?" She questioned. However, she got no response, for the blue cat was already fast asleep next to her whispering something about Carla and fish.

Natsu only stared at Dawn, making her feel slightly uneasy. Their eyes met for a brief moment, but Dawn with a blushing face, looked away. "Um, is something wrong?"

Natsu shook his head.

Dawn got up and placed Happy down on the couch carefully, after, she sat back down. "So do you have any idea where to start looking for Lucy?"

"No," He replied as he scratched the back of his head nervously. "I have no clue where to begin looking."

"Where was the last place you saw her?"

Natsu thought back to that time when he saw the bright light and how he rushed over to the guild as quickly as he possibly could. He remembered watching her disappear in front of him as he tried to reach out to her.

Dawn saw the pained look on Natsu's face. She lightly placed her hand on Natsu's shoulder as a way of reassuring him that he wasn't alone and that she would do anything she could to bring Lucy back to him. "Natsu…" She began.

Natsu placed his hand on top of the hand Dawn had placed on his shoulder. He noticed it was the hand with the weird looking bandage. Was she left with a scar from that time he was unable to reach her? He felt a pang of guilt and therefore took her hand off his shoulder as carefully as he could and then placed it into his own before softly letting go.

"Eh?"

"Good night," He told her as he walked out of the house.

* * *

**-The Next Morning-**

Dawn woke up on the couch with a light pink blanket over her. She yawned as an effort to stay awake rather than going back to sleep.

"Morning!"

Dawn rubbed her eyes. "Morning Natsu and Happy."

"How did you sleep?" Happy asked her.

"I slept okay." She then turned to look at Natsu, "Where did you go last night?"

"I went to get you this!" He shoved a large paper bag onto her. With slight hesitation, Dawn opened the bag. Inside, she found a whole group of old envelopes.

"Eh?" She looked astonished by what she was just given. Some of the letters looked newer than others, but they all looked for the most part, untouched. "What are all of these letters Natsu?"

"You—Lucy wrote them to her mom over the years."

Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Why would you bring them to me?"

Natsu looked away. In his mind last night he had thought he needed to go away for a while, and ended up where he always did, at Lucy's home. It was at that moment, while at her apartment, that he began to think. Lucy really didn't remember anything and he…he wanted her to. He wanted Lucy to drop the whole 'Dawn' thing and remember as soon as possible who she really is so that he could finally do what he wanted to do for so long now, apologize. Out of frustration, he banged his head on the wall, causing the small storage that was hanging on the left to open. Letter's fell to the ground, giving Natsu an idea that just might work in his mind.

Before looking back at her, Natsu shrugged. "I thought they could be useful."

"Um is it really okay for me to be reading her private letters?" She asked them both.

"Lushii wouldn't mind," Happy replied to her.

"I would!"

Natsu and Happy stared at her in bewilderment, making Dawn tilt her head in confusion before realizing the misinterpretation she had just given. "N-no! Eh, that's not what I meant…I mean…Y-you said that Lucy wouldn't mind but me, if I was writing letters, I think I would've minded if someone read them without my permission…" She lowered her head a little and clutched on her hands on her knees to try and maintain her composure.

Natsu simply laughed at her antics. "Just read them you weirdo," He told her.

"I'm not weird!" She said to defend herself.

"Aye!"

"See even Happy agrees with me," Dawn told the pink headed guy.

Happy shook his head. "I mean, aye! You are a weird!"

"No fair," She pouted as she opened one of the envelopes, "It's two against one…"

The three of them began laughing.

Dawn started reading the letters one by one; some of them she read aloud, while others, well she couldn't bring herself to. As she, Natsu, and Happy sat there with a pile of letters encircling them in the only clean area left in the house, that air of familiarity surrounded the blond girl yet again.

* * *

**Hello ^-^ I'm so so sorry for the long wait! There was alot going on for the last couple of months of school and I could hardly find the time to even think about updating, but now it's finally over! Anyhow, expect more frequent updates from now on :D I'm really happy with all the positive reviews I've been receiving for this story and I thank you all so so much for that and it's for that reason that I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as well (2,000+ words!). Again, thanks so much for the read! **


	4. Chapter 4

Levy was sitting next to Jet and Droy, until they said they had to leave for some reason. She only nodded at them and began to read one of her many books, however, she then hit a stopping point. Closing her book, she sighed heavily.

"Is something wrong Levy-san?" Wendy asked as both she and Carla took a seat directly across from her.

"Do you know where," She paused for a second, "Do you know where Da-chan went to?"

"She, Happy, and Natsu-san went to go look for Lucy-san as usual," Wendy replied, feeling a bit strange at her own response.

Carla folded her arms. "I don't see what the point in that is. Natsu and Happy have confirmed to us that they know she is Lucy and all of us have made that conclusion as well."

"It's Natsu's method of making her remember," Lisanna told them as she approached their table. "Mind if I join you?"

They all motioned her to take a seat. Lisanna then sat down next to Levy. Levy then said, "I don't know if going out on random missions will help Lu-chan remember either."

Lisanna's ears couldn't believe what she had just heard. "I think your both wrong. Natsu is clearly doing everything he can to make Lucy remember."

"But she hasn't remembered," Levy told her. "It's going to be three weeks already and nothing has really changed since the first time she arrived."

"You can't just expect her to remember right away."

"I think Lisanna-san is right. All Lucy-san needs is time..." Wendy placed her head down a little. "We all want her to remember as soon as possible."

Levy gave her a small smile. "There's no need to feel guilty Wendy, the important thing is that she's here with us." She then thought back to that day where Lucy was fighting the man in the black hood. "Now that I think about it, maybe it's a good thing that she's spending all her time with Natsu. After all, there is still the possibility that she's being targeted."

"Was she really being targeted just for being a celestial mage?" Lisanna asked before continuing on. "Somehow it seems like there's more to it."

Wendy only nodded. She began thinking about the time she encountered Lucy's friend Bora. Something felt slightly off about her and since then, Wendy hasn't heard of her. Wondering what happened to her, she also began to ponder if she knew what happened to Lucy. Somehow, though it felt wrong to do so, Wendy felt as if the two were connected.

* * *

**-With Natsu, Happy, and Dawn-**

Dawn got out of the train, with Happy and Natsu following behind. "I don't think I'll ever understand your motion sickness…"

"It's one of Natsu's many flaws," Happy said to her as he raised his right paw.

"Many!?"

Dawn giggled. "Well you could be a little less messy when it comes to your house."

He then grinned. "But that's why I have you Lu— I mean since you've been staying there, you've helped out with all the cleaning and stuff."

Dawn frown, partly because he almost called her Lucy for the hundredth time and partly, well for the same reason. "You can't expect me to do that forever, you know. Once we find Lucy she'll probably…"

"She'll probably what?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

She shook her head. "I-it's nothing."

"Natsu we're all out of food," Happy told him. "So we have to stop by the store before we go to the guild."

"Right! I almost forgot!" He then turned to Dawn. "Do you just want to wait for us at the guild? We'll be back once we're done."

"Eh? Don't you want me to help?"

Natsu and Happy, in reality, wanted her to leave so they could finish up cleaning Lucy's apartment. They wanted it to be nice and clean so they could finally show it to her, to see if it that would help her remember. Though it may seem a bit strange, they also wanted to do it as a thank you to her for helping them these past couple of weeks. And they weren't entirely lying either, they did need to get food…for Lucy's now empty refrigerator.

"Aye! But you always help," Happy told her, "So you should take a break."

"I don't mind," She told them.

Natsu thought for a moment before coming up with an idea. He sighed as a part of his act. "The truth is, Mira wanted to talk to you about something and she didn't want to say it in front of us for some weird reason. Right Happy?"

"Aye!" With his wings helping him stay afloat, he pushed Dawn forward a bit. "So while you talk to Mira, we'll go buy food."

"Well okay…" She said, not sure of how else to respond.

"Great! We'll stop by later to pick you up!" Natsu told her as he and Happy scurried off in the opposite direction.

"Natsu, did Mira really need to talk to Lushii?" Happy asked as they continued on.

"Nah, well she did tell me once she wanted to talk to her, but who knows."

"When we go to the store, can we buy Lushii some chocolate cake?"

"Sure! We'll buy her tons of other food too! Then we'll go finish cleaning her apartment."

"Aye!"

* * *

**-At the Guild-**

Dawn took a seat on one of the empty stools. "Hi Mira, Natsu said you wanted to talk to me about something?"

Mira got into her thinking pose. "I did? Hmm I don't think so..." She then gave her a smile. "But, how have you been Dawn?"

"…I-I've been okay."

"Ara, ara. What was that hesitation?"

Dawn placed her hands on the table. "Well it's nothing really. I just wonder sometimes of what's going to happen after this."

"After what?"

"After we find Lucy. It's clear that she's really precious to Natsu, no to everyone in the guild, and I…"

Mira gave her a sympathetic look. "You're afraid that once you find Lucy, things won't be the same between you and everyone else in the guild."

Dawn slowly nodded. "I feel like when Lucy comes back, I won't be able to meet with any of you anymore. I really love it here at Fairy Tail. I know I can't stay because I don't have magic and since the beginning, I knew I was going to go back home but…"

Mira didn't know what she should say. The blond girl before her was worried that she wouldn't be able to continue being friends with them once Lucy was back, but Mira knew for a fact that she was Lucy. "Please remember…"

"Mira?"

A small smile formed on her lips. "Please remember that here at Fairy Tail you have bonds that are forever, bonds that can never be broken. Temporary isn't something we do here at our guild, once you're here, you're stuck with us."

Dawn smiled at the barmaid's words. "Yes!"

Feeling that that wasn't entirely it, Mira spoke once more. "Now Dawn, is there anything else you would like to talk about?"

Dawn averted her eyes as soon as Mira asked her question. "There is something else that I haven't been able to tell anyone about…"

Mira blinked. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it."

She shook her head. "It's fine Mira, I trust you. The thing is, when I was cleaning Natsu's house, I accidently dropped this small red box that he keeps on a stool. It opened and inside was this Merry-go-Round and a note," She waved her hands franticly. "I didn't read it or anything! But, looking at it made my head hurt."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"It seemed so familiar to me." She paused. "Some other things that I've seen and heard feel familiar to me as well…I didn't want to say anything because I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression that I'm Lucy."

"Dawn, what you're saying…"

"I know I'm contradicting myself a bit by saying this," She placed her hands on her heart. "Yet I can't avoid the fact that I get a warm feeling in my chest whenever I'm here with everyone."

"How can you sure you're not Lucy if you say that!?" Mira, losing her composure, asked.

"No." She placed her hands on her head, wincing in some form of pain. "I can't it's too coincidental."

Concerned, Mira rushed over to the other side and gave her a comforting hug. "Are you alright Dawn?"

Dawn began to slowly let her hands fall from her head and onto her own lap. "Sorry. I'm okay now."

Mira noticed that the bandage on Dawn's right hand began to display a dim light. She was about to ask her before Natsu walked into the guild.

"We're back!" Natsu stopped as he saw Mira hugging Dawn. "Is everything okay?"

Dawn nodded as Mira let go of her. "I was just feeling a bit uneasy, but I'm okay now. Where's Happy?"

"Happy is outside."

"I'll go see him then, see you later Mira!" Dawn waved and gave her a small smile before she walked out the guild doors.

Natsu turned to Mira. "What happened to her?"

Mira reassured him that she was fine. "Natsu, that red box in your house…is it important to you?"

Natsu scratched his head. "It's the gift Lucy gave me for Christmas. Of course it's important."

"One more thing, that bandage of hers, has she told you anything about it?"

"Not really. Why?"

Her tone turned a bit more serious. "Don't you find it strange that she never takes it off? It's also exactly where Lucy's guild mark—"

"I know. I noticed that when Happy asked her about it," He then looked away. "Do you think it was injured that bad? She probably has a scar because of me…"

"No, I don't think that's the case. I think it's something more than that."

"Like what Mira?"

"Maybe the reason she can't remember is because of that."

"Huh?"

"Just something to consider."

"R-right. Thanks Mira."

Natsu walked outside, still keeping the conversation he had with Mira in mind. He was then joined by Happy and Dawn as they all headed out.

Dawn noticed they weren't going the usual way they go home. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," Natsu told her.

She pouted. "Can't you just tell me?"

"It's a surprise," Happy responded.

Dawn sighed. "Fine."

They walked a little ways more until they finally stood in front of Lucy's apartment.

Dawn looked at the building with curiosity. She noticed that Natsu and Happy were looking at her, waiting for some sort of emotion to appear on her face. Then it finally hit her. This was Lucy's home, she knew that for a fact, and she finally put two and two together. Standing there, she finally realized the reason why Natsu and Happy had even considered letting her help them on their search for Lucy, she now understood their actions for everything they had done from the beginning till now. It was all because they were fixated on the fact that she was indeed the very girl she was helping them look for.

"Is something wrong?" Natsu asked.

"What do you guys expect…?" She began. "Since I met you, I specifically told both of you that I'm not her."

Natsu's eyes widened. "Wait..."

"Not once have you called me by my name." She looked at him. "Hey Natsu, if I didn't look like her, would you have still told me to come with you?"

Natsu gave her a reassuring expression. "You are—"

"No!" She shouted. "Why are you so obsessed with the idea that I'm her!?"

"And why are you so sure that you're not!?" He shouted back. "You told me that you were found by an old couple! You said that you don't remember anything before that! How can you tell me that you aren't her when everything else says that you are!?"

Happy looked at both of them as they now stood still. He then noticed that Natsu grabbed her right hand. "Natsu, what are you going to do?"

As Natsu tried to take off the bandage, Dawn pulled him away and held her hand close to her in order to protect it from him. "Idiot! What are you doing? It'll start hurting if you take it off!"

"It's to prove to you that your Lucy! Where that bandage is, that's where your guild mark is!"

"You don't even take the time to understand or to consider my feelings!" A tear slowly ran down her cheek. "I don't want to see your face ever again."

Happy saw Dawn run off. "Dawn! We're sorry!" He spread out his wings and was about to go after her before a hand held him back. He turned to see Natsu with his head down. "Natsu?"

"Just let her go Happy."

"Natsu, you can still go after her and make things right."

Natsu shook his head as he thought about the first time Lucy had said those words to him. The look on her face was exactly the same. In the end, he knew that it was his fault that she got hurt. "I think I've done enough damage already…"

* * *

**I was having a pretty bad day yesterday and well I admit it seems I have bad days pretty often. I don't necessarily have a room to go pour out my emotions in and I'm also not entirely used to writing stuff I consider very personal, but I couldn't help it for some reason. So here it goes: Writing this story and all my other ones, well they really do help a lot in getting me through what we all call life, but what helps me the most is seeing all the favorites, followers, and reviews. Even if I do write as a form of escape sometimes, all of you have turned it into something way more special, so thank you. Really, thank you so much for simply taking the time to read any of my stories that I publish here. So as usual, thanks for the read! ^-^**


	5. Chapter 5

Dawn ran. She didn't stop until she knew she was as far away as she could possibly get. Out of breath, she sat down near a tree. Rubbing her tears off, she began to wonder if she had overreacted. She understood that she got angry at Natsu and Happy for deceiving her, yet she couldn't help but feel that that wasn't everything. No, she wouldn't cry for just that…would she? She had to admit to herself that the few weeks she had spent with Natsu and Happy were possibly the most precious memories she has ever made. Sure, it did get emotional once and a while, and sure, Natsu didn't call her by her name, "Not even once…but," She said as she hugged her knees, "We became really good friends nonetheless. Lucy sure is lucky…"

The blond then sighed. "I was the one who agreed to help in the first place. I also didn't listen to their reasoning of why they thought I was Lucy. Knowing them, it had to be something more than appearance…maybe I wasn't thinking logically, after all Obaasan and Ojiisan did find me and—" Dawn stopped mid-sentence. The sharp pain in her head prevented her from continuing on. She held onto her head, as if it would make a difference in the pain. It did eventually stop, but unlike the other times, this one was longer and Dawn noticed that. What she didn't notice, however, was the dim light that her bandage gave off.

A girl, with long brown hair and blue eyes, came up to Dawn. "Are you okay?" She asked.

Dawn, still holding onto her head, looked up. She was a little startled at the sudden appearance of the girl. She also noticed that the girl had on blue capris and a long sleeve pink shirt with a silver vest that was closed with golden buttons. "Y-yes. Um…who are you?"

The girl paused for a moment, almost as if she was being cautious of her words. "No one special, but are you sure you're okay? Your nose is red and your eyes look puffy."

Placing her hands off her head and instead on her nose, Dawn replied, "Ah! Sorry, it's just… I've been sitting here for a while."

"Out in the cold!?"

Dawn nodded and introduced herself, feeling that she should do so.

"Nice to meet you Dawn-chan. I'm…well that's not important right now." She grabbed her hand and helped her up. "Let's get out of the cold! I'll give you some warm milk and cookies!"

"Cookies huh?"

"Yes, we need lots of cookies! Especially you Dawn-chan, you're too skinny!"

She sweat dropped, "Eh, well I don't know about—" Again she felt the sharp pain in her head. Somehow, this scenario also felt familiar.

The girl with brown hair took note of this. Her eyes, rather than being filled with worry, were filled with what seemed to be guilt.

"Sorry. My head started hurting..." Dawn then smiled, "But it's no big deal!"

"Okay…" She then forced a smile. "Let's just get out of here. It's not safe to be alone at night you know."

The brunette then looked back to make sure that they weren't being followed. It was a good thing she didn't look up at the sky, for if she did, she would've spotted Carla aiding Wendy, the sky dragon slayer.

* * *

**-Outside the Unknown Girl's House/With Wendy and Carla-**

"Why would she simply follow someone without knowing who they really are? You never know what the true motives of a stranger could be."

"Da—" Wendy shook her head. "Lucy-san is a trusting person..." Wendy said before pausing. She and Carla had followed Dawn and the girl with the brown hair to her home. It wasn't very far nor very big. They were currently sitting outside on the porch, on the left side of the door, underneath a medium size window.

Carla noticed Wendy's pause. Looking up at her pensive exterior, Carla began to wonder what was going on in her mind. "What is it Wendy?"

"She didn't go with a stranger Carla. She went with her because she is familiar. Lucy-san knows that girl. We know her too."

"Do we—?" Carla then noticed the door knob beginning to turn. "Wendy."

Wendy nodded and they moved out of the way as swiftly as they could. They then hid behind a tree, having learned that from Juvia when she used to stalk Gray.

"This is my chance Carla," Wendy told her as she noticed the girl walk out of her house without Dawn.

"You want to approach her?"

Wendy nodded. "Can you go back to the guild to make sure that everyone is okay?"

"What do you mean Wendy? It's already late! It's getting too dark for you to go out by yourself!"

"It's fine Carla… That's the reason why you have to go to the guild. They're probably wondering where all of us are. If someone from the guild does ask for us, can you just say we'll be back later?"

Carla looked at Wendy's desperate face and then noticed that the girl walking farther away. "Alright Wendy, but just be careful. I don't know why that girl is even walking out this late at night alone when she told Dawn not to do that…"

"You mean Lucy-san Carla."

Carla crossed her arms as she spread open her wings. "I will call her that when she wishes to be called that."

"Let's hope that happens soon."

"Yes. I'll be waiting for you both at Fairy Hills." Carla then flew off in the direction of the guild and Wendy went off after the girl with the long brown hair.

Wendy had lost sight of the girl almost immediately after she went off after her. She sighed and rather than aimlessly wandering the grounds to find her, she decided to head back to the house. Once there, she sat down on the porch and waited for her arrival. She noticed that the light from the moon grew dimmer, and even the stars from the sky didn't shine so bright. "I wonder how late it is," She said as she rubbed her eyes as an effort to keep awake. "Carla," She yawned. "I hope Carla doesn't worry too much."

Before Wendy lost to sleep, she noticed a figure in the distance with a couple of paper bags in her hands.

Wendy stood up abruptly. "Bora-san!"

Bora's eyes widened, she did not expect to see her there. "Wendy-san!? How did you—?"

"What are you doing with Lucy-san?" She asked in a serious tone.

"Lucy-chan? I haven't seen her since—"

"Liar. I know you have. She's inside right now…I saw you bring her here."

Bora took note of the serious look on Wendy's face. She sighed heavily, for she knew that her plan had crumbled. It was now time to explain what happened. "Okay Wendy-san. You win. Come inside and I'll explain."

Wendy did as she was told. Inside, she followed Bora to the kitchen. She then noticed how messy it was.

"I only had one cookie left. I thought I had more lying around, but I didn't so I decided to go to a store I know that closes at midnight to go buy some more food," She explained while setting the paper bags down.

"Where is Lucy-san?"

Bora began putting the things she had brought from the store away as she replied, "She's inside Loke's room sleeping."

"Loke's?" Wendy asked in confusion as to why Loke's name was even mentioned; she hadn't heard of him since the day Lucy disappeared.

"Oh, this was his house during the time when he wasn't allowed to go to the Celestial World, when he was a full-time Fairy Tail member."

"Loke-san lived here?"

"Yes. He had some towels and clothes, so Lucy-chan took a shower before going to sleep."

"Girl clothes?"

"I made sure they were clean before handing them to Lucy-chan…don't ask whose they were," Bora replied, making Wendy blush as she figured out what she was implying.

"Let's take a seat," Bora said as she pulled a chair for both herself and Wendy.

Wendy took a seat and waited patiently for Bora to begin.

Bora took a deep breath before beginning; she turned her head as the words began to come out of her mouth. "As you know, Lucy-chan was wounded badly when that hooded figure came to your guild. He was after her, and though he was going easy on her, it was pretty obvious that he wanted her dead. Her magic, well, she had little of it left. She was wounded severely…" She then turned to face Wendy directly, "You saw her. She looked like she was about to die! And the worst part is that she couldn't call on any of us anymore…so I used my own magic. I used it to take her away—"

Wendy interjected, "Y-you're a celestial spirit!?"

"Yes. My real name is Corona Borealis, gate of the Northern Crown. The same key that your friends Natsu and Happy gave to Lucy-chan."

Wendy had a bunch of questions she wished to ask the spirit, but only seemed most appropriate for the sake of the conversation… "Then that bright light?"

"Oh that happened when I gave Lucy-chan some of my magic. Once she had some magic, Loke came out to help. He used Regulus to distract that hooded figure while I got Lucy-chan out of there."

"And then what happened?"

"She collapsed and the light dimed from Fairy Tail. I brought her to Hargeon and laid her on the grass of a small park. I took off her belt with her keys and waited patiently in the bushes to see if anyone would be willing to take her…Loke came right after and asked me what I was doing. When I explained to him that I wanted Lucy to be taken away and to be as far away from Fairy Tail and magic as she possibly could, he was furious…but he was too late. An old couple had spotted Lucy-chan and were taking her to the hospital. Loke and I obviously followed them. As the doctor began to heal Lucy-chan, Loke and I discussed our differences in approaching the matter. In the end, he gave into my reasoning and agreed to keep us, all of Lucy-chan's keys, until it was time."

"Lucy-san not remembering us…that was your fault too?"

Bora nodded her head. "I asked Gemi and Mini to transform into the doctor and give Lucy-chan that bandage she wears on her right hand and gave them strict instructions to tell the old couple that she could never take it off…because…it's what keeps repressing her magic and memories…"

The feelings Wendy was holding back, she couldn't maintain them any further. Tears of sadness and anger fell from her cheeks. "Why did you do that!?"

"I thought—"

"No! We're her nakama!" She screamed out before putting her head down. She lowered her voice, remembering that Lucy was still sleeping. "You had no right…no right to take her away from us." She however, raised her voice, promising herself that it would be her last time doing so. "You have no idea how I…how Natsu-san…how any of us felt..."

"I have no right? Of course I do," Bora replied, taking mind of her volume. "We, her spirits, were all worried about her. Crux looked into the deaths of the celestial mages and we feared for Lucy-chan's safety. Though they didn't really understand my reasoning at first, they all felt it was safer if Lucy-chan took a break while Crux and I got more information—"

"It took all this time for that?" She asked almost bitterly.

"Crux was trying his best. We wanted to know what we were up against in order to save her…I didn't want to cause any pain…I just wanted to protect my friend…"

Wendy's eyes softened. "Sorry Bora-san. I didn't mean to scream at you, but Lucy-san is our precious friend too…but you did manage to keep her safe and for that," Wendy got up from her seat and bowed. "And for that thank you."

"Wendy-san…" Bora burst into tears. "Sorry. I'm sorry Wendy-san. Like I said I didn't mean to—"

Wendy gave her a hug. "The guild will understand. Lucy-san will understand."

* * *

**-The Next Morning-**

Dawn opened her eyes. As she arose from bed, she noticed Bora and Wendy sleeping on the floor. She wondered what the sky dragon slayer was doing, but nevertheless, she smiled and walked out into the kitchen. She noticed how messy it was and decided to clean up while Wendy and Bora rested. When she was done cleaning, she decided to make some breakfast for them all with the things that Bora had brought yesterday night.

By the time she finished, she noticed that they weren't up yet. She sighed as she noticed it was already mid-afternoon. "Just how late did they stay up?"

Almost on cue, Bora and Wendy came out the room, rubbing their eyes as they said, "Morning…"

She giggled. "You mean good afternoon."

They noticed the plates of food on the table and took a seat.

They ate peacefully until Dawn asked. "So you two know each other?"

"You could say that," Bora replied to her.

"Bora-san…" Wendy said with a frown.

"Bo-ra?" Dawn questioned.

"That's my name." Before Dawn could say anything else, she intervened. "We're friends actually. I met her hmm, I think two years ago? Anyways there's some clothes laid out for you in the room if you want to get ready. Wendy will stay with you. Don't ask why, but I have to leave so I'll see you soon?"

"O-okay," She said, not questioning her as she walked over to the room to get ready.

Bora then got up. "I should be getting back to the Celestial World now."

"Now?" Wendy asked.

Bora nodded. "Now remember, in order for her fully regain all her memories, she has to take the bandage off."

"Okay, thank you."

Bora smiled as she closed her own gate. A few minutes later, Dawn came out of the room wearing a pink floral dress that reached her mid-thigh. Her hair was in a side pony tail, tied with a pink ribbon. She wore small brown boots. Wendy stood from her seat and told Dawn that they were going for a walk. They made small talk at first. A bit down the road, less than halfway, Dawn asked Wendy where they were going to, and she replied that they were heading over to the guild.

"Eh to Fairy Tail!?" She asked.

"Yes."

"B-but Wendy—"

"Don't worry, you belong there," She said as they continued to walk.

"But Natsu and…"

"What was the reason you got angry at him?"

She put her head down as she and Wendy continued to get closer to the guild. "J-just because he didn't call me by my name…because he and Happy were so sure that I was Lucy…It's a pretty stupid reason."

"W-well I'm not sure…"

She then looked at her hand with the bandage on it. "He wanted to take it off, Natsu did. He thinks that this is hiding the Fairy Tail guild mark, pretty silly right?"

Wendy noticed that she wouldn't take her eyes off of her right hand. She gave a small smile. "Dawn-san, are you doubtful?"

"M-me, doubtful?" She looked at her hand again. "I assume a part of me is…"

"Then why don't you get rid of it?" She asked as they stood almost directly in front of the doors of the Fairy Tail guild.

"The doctor said—"

"It will be worth it," Wendy said with a smile. "I promise."

Though reluctant at first, Dawn slowly removed the bandage from her hand. She shut her eyes tight as she let the bandage fall to the floor. She felt glad that her hand didn't hurt at all and slowly opened her eyes. At the sight of her hand, she felt a sharp pain in her head, the final pain that she would feel. Her memories, the feel of her magic, everything came back to her at once. As she stared at her right hand, tears started streaming down her face. "I'm Lucy Heartfilia, no…Lucy of Fairy Tail."

* * *

**Among other things, school started in August. I've been struggling with time management, so I'm sorry it took a while to finally publish another chapter for My First and The Everlasting Bonds. I would like to assure you that the rest of my stories will have a new chapter either this weekend or the next and as an apology for the long wait, I'm also working on a mini-story that will be about 8-9 chapters long. Hopefully it works out, and as usual, thanks for the read!**


	6. Chapter 6

Later on, Lucy and Wendy walked into the guild with a smile plastered on both of their faces. Nobody seemed to notice when they entered; they were all pretty much caught up in their own conversations. The two girls turned to each other and giggled. Their giggle, though not very loud, caught the attention of some of their closer guild mates. They were a bit surprised to see them both.

Carla was the first to approach them. "Wendy, where were you? I was worried that something happened to you and Dawn!"

"Nothing happened," Wendy replied with a straight face.

Erza stood up from her seat at that moment. "Are you positive?" She looked over at "Dawn". "I heard that Natsu told you—" Erza then paused, she realized her word choice wasn't right and tried to correct herself. She gave an awkward cough. "What I mean is that, I heard that you were upset."

When Erza said this, "Dawn" noticed that everyone had turned to look at her. Levy, Mira, Gray, Juvia, Gajeel, Cana, Elfman, Lisanna, Laxus, everyone, they all stopped what they were doing. They had all heard from Mira, who had heard from Natsu and Happy, about what had happened; they waited for the blonde's response.

She didn't respond. Instead, she looked over at Wendy.

"Are you sure that nothing happened?" Carla asked again.

"She isn't speaking…" Levy added.

"Something did happen," Gajeel said, noticing that "Dawn" had her hands behind her back, hidden from view.

Wendy still maintained her straight face when she spoke. "I already told everyone that nothing happened," But by the time that she made eye contact with "Dawn", she cracked a smile. "Right Lucy-san?"

"Lucy?" Both Gray and Erza were taken aback, along with everyone else that had heard Wendy call "Dawn" Lucy.

Lucy gave her team members a smile. "It's nice to see you again Erza and Gray."

Mira didn't wait any longer. She pulled the blond into an embrace. "Welcome back home. We all missed you very much!"

"M-Mira, your hug is suffocating me…"

Lucy was released from Mira's hug. Everyone laughed, except for Levy. Lucy noticed this and walked over to her. She placed her hand on her shoulder. Levy saw the pink guild mark on her right hand. "Your guild mark…"

Lucy smiled. "Levy-chan, it seems that I haven't been working on my novel lately…"

"Lu-chan!" She gave her friend a hug. "I knew…I knew you weren't really gone."

It was a joyous occasion for the guild, and this time, everyone felt it. While some laughed of happiness and some cried of joy, Lucy found herself apologizing for both. Cana started drinking from her favorite barrel, more enthusiastic than ever; some of the older members began to dance; Gajeel went up stage to preform, which lead to Juvia cheering and Gray covering his ears; Erza brought out her strawberry cake; and everyone else just continued surrounding Lucy, happy that she had finally returned.

Lucy somehow managed to escape to searched around the room for Natsu and Happy. When she couldn't find them, she gave a small sigh. Walking over to the bar counter, she took a seat on a stool. "Mira, have you seen Natsu and Happy?"

"They were here earlier looking for you Lucy," Mira replied as she put down the cup she was cleaning and faced her friend. "They were really sad."

~Flashback~

Natsu and Happy had both come to the guild again in the afternoon, hoping that they would find "Dawn" there.

Natsu leaned against the bar counter, still worried that he hadn't heard from "Dawn" since yesterday. "The sun's going to set in a couple of hours…and she isn't back yet…"

Happy sighed. "Aye…"

Natsu turned to Mira. "And you said that she never came to the guild? Not even once?"

Mira admitted that she was a bit disappointed at the dragon slayer for allowing "Dawn" to run off on her own. But, when he explained what had happened to her, she somehow came to understand his reasoning. In response to his questions, she shook her head. "I'm afraid not."

"Oh…"

At the look of Natsu's sulking face, Mira giggled. She decided that it wouldn't be so bad saying what she was previously thinking of saying. "You should've listened to Happy and ran after her."

"Natsu you should've listened to me…" Happy said afterwards.

Natsu nodded his head slowly, apparently also regretting his decision, despite his initial reason. "I should've…"

A moment of silence occurred between both of them. Mira stared at both of them with curiosity; they were waiting to hear what either of them would say next.

It was then when Natsu spoke again in an unenthusiastic tone. "Well let's get going Happy."

"Aye. Let's go get some fish," He said in the same voice.

"If anyone needs us, we'll be out fishing in the usual lake till sun down…"

~End of Flashback~

"They walked out of the guild with their heads down after that," Mira said.

After Mira finished, Lucy stood abruptly from her seat. "I have to go…I'll see you later!"

* * *

**-With Lucy- **

Though Lucy had rushed out the doors of the guild door, her feet wouldn't move any further than that. A thought had appeared in her head and she couldn't help thinking about what would happen when she would be face to face with Natsu and Happy. The pain and sadness that she was certain she had put them through…she could only imagine.

Lisanna, who was heading on a late mission with Elfman, had seen Lucy standing with a pensive expression. She asked Elfman to wait for her halfway towards the train station, adding that she wouldn't take long. Elfman noticed that Lisanna was looking over at Lucy and nodded, telling her to be careful.

"Is something wrong?"

Lucy blinked. "Lisanna?"

She pulled both of her hands back and intertwined them; she looked towards the guild. "It's weird being back, right?"

"I'm not sure, nothing's really changed but…"

"It doesn't change the fact that you've been gone." She smiled. "I know what you're going through, though it's not exactly the same."

"Well you were in Edolas and I was here, in Magnolia."

An image of the dark guild known as Fairy Tail appeared in the mind of Lisanna. The people that had inhabited the guild, the kindness they all gave her, there was no way she could forget any of it. "Edolas…I kind of miss it," She giggled, "Especially seeing Natsu come crying to me because Lucy beat him up."

Lucy giggled too. "Our adventures in Edolas sure were fun…hey, coming back after all this time though everyone was happy to see you, though nothing really changed, did you ever think about what would happen afterwards? I mean all the sadness they must've come across while you were gone…"

Lisanna sighed at the fact that her blond friend was overthinking again. "You think too much Lucy. I didn't think about what would happen next, I just felt the happiness of Mira-nee, Elf-nii-chan, and everyone else's. I feel that just seeing everybody happy and well is enough."

"Don't think, feel?"

"Exactly," Lisanna told her. "Wait, I told this to you before!"

"Yes, but—"

"Don't think about it. As long as you're with us now, sadness will go away," She smiled. "I'm happy that your back!"

Lisanna's words gave Lucy the relief she was looking for. Because they held truth, Lucy smiled back. "Thank you."

Lisanna then started pushing Lucy forward. "Now hurry, Happy and Natsu, especially Natsu, are waiting for you."

"It's not like they're going anywhere…"

"Didn't Mira-nee tell you that they were only going to be there until the sun goes down and then they were going to head out to look for you?"

"What!? I better hurry or else I'll have to wait till they come back! Thanks again Lisanna!"

"Lucy! We should hang out more!" Lisanna said with a wink.

"Definitely!"

With that, Lucy ran with all her might in hopes of catching up with Natsu and Happy. For now, she let go of all her thinking and ran with a smile because she would soon see her two dearest friends; she smiled because in her heart, she knew that they would be together again. In turn, she took the route that would take her the shortest to get to the usual fishing lake.

When she arrived at the corner, she saw Natsu and Happy in the distance, walking away.

"Natsu! Happy!" She called out to them.

Happy turned around. "Look Natsu! She came back!"

Natsu looked back and saw "Dawn" smiling back at them. "Wait here Happy."

While they were fishing, Natsu was telling Happy about what he would say to "Dawn" when they had found her. Happy knew that Natsu needed, and wanted to do this by himself. In return he nodded.

Natsu then walked over to the blond. "I just wanted to say sorry. Lucy, she's a very important and special person to me. I made her sad, I made her cry, and then she disappears…I felt my heart burning at the memory of her. Lucy, Lucy is a strong person. Despite what others said…I still wanted to see her. I knew that she was still out there somewhere and I knew that I had to be the one to find her…So can you forgive me, Dawn?"

Lucy was speechless. All this time, he was only thinking of her…She then realized that he had called her Dawn for the first time. Lucy couldn't help but giggle.

"Hey don't laugh! I was being serious Dawn!"

"Idiot…that's not my name," Lucy said with a heartwarming smile. She then stepped back about seven steps. Flashing her right hand, she said, "Look Natsu, the mark of Fairy Tail!"

Natsu's eyes widened. "L-Lucy!?"

Happy had heard Natsu's exclamation and flew over to them. "Lushii? Is it really you this time?"

She smiled at them both. "Yes Happy, Natsu…I'm sorry for—"

They didn't let her finish. Both of them rushed closer to her and gave her a hug. Happy used his small paws to hug her by her shoulders. Natsu hugged her from the front; he clutched onto her waist, refusing to let go.

"Lushii!" Happy wailed.

"I missed you too Happy," She told the blue exceed as she tried to loosen herself from Natsu's hug. It's not that she didn't want his hug, but more that she was embarrassed from it, until Happy said…

"Natsu's crying!"

And he was right. At the moment that he was certain that what was happening wasn't a dream, Natsu had cracked a smile as tears ran down his face. The girl he loves, his most precious person, was now back with him and this time she remembers who she really is. He still didn't feel like he had the right to hold Lucy, because he had made her cry and failed to protect her, but he couldn't help it. She was in front of him, she was in his arms, and he wanted to make sure that she would never disappear, not again, not ever.

Lucy was surprised that he was crying. She was certain that she had caused them sadness, but Natsu crying? He didn't do that when Lisanna came back. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure if she had ever seen him cry. This worried her. "Natsu?"

At the sound of her voice, Natsu buried his face closer to her. "I'm okay as long as you're okay," He murmured.

Lucy forgot any embarrassment that she was feeling. She could only smile and hug him back.

Happy smiled as well and said once more, "Natsu is crying!"

"You're crying too Happy!" He said in response.

"B-because Lushii is back!" He continued to wail.

Lucy was trying hard to not cry. She thought of this moment as a happy occasion, no need for tears! But the wails of Happy and the silent tears of Natsu got to her. Lucy started crying as well.

"Lucy, what's wrong!?" Natsu asked alarmed.

"Did we hurt you with our hug?" Happy asked worried.

Both he and Natsu quickly let go of the blond girl.

Lucy took this opportunity to wipe her tears. "N-no. That's not it… It's just, with both of you crying, it made me want to cry along with you."

Natsu immediately upon hearing this used his forearm to wipe his tears away and Happy did the same. They each put on a wide smile.

"Look Lucy!" Natsu said, "Were both smiling so you have to do the same."

At that moment, while Lucy was wiping her tears, Loke appeared only a small distance away from them, smiling as well. "Yes Lucy, smile and then jump into my arms, quick!"

"N-no way." Lucy replied, a bit embarrassed.

Loke simply chuckled. "It's enough seeing you in that outfit. You just made my day," He ran up closer to her with his arms wide open.

Lucy backed up, blushing in the process. Happy looked to see Natsu's facial expression and sniggered at what he was about to do next.

Natsu, noticing Lucy's reaction to Loke's advancement, extended his leg to make Loke trip before he got any closer to Lucy. "I thought you said looking at her was enough?" Natsu crossed his arms, "What are you doing here anyways? I haven't seen you at the guild since Lucy was gone."

Loke got up and dusted himself off. "Did you forget I'm her celestial spirit? Besides it was that stupid crown's fault that—"

Lucy shook her head, making Loke stop at mid-sentence. She had heard from Wendy, before they entered the guild, of what Corona Borealis/Bora had done. Lucy wasn't angry, how could she be? All of this was to save her, to keep her safe and she was grateful for that. But she did wish Bora had found a way to do it without separating her from her beloved nakama. "It's okay Loke. I'm not angry…is that why she isn't here?"

"No. That crazy crown hasn't been to the celestial world since I agreed to let the old couple take you away."

"Eh? But that's a very long time! Why would Bora-chan do that!?"

"She wanted to make sure no harm came your way, while I," Loke took out Lucy's belt with all her keys, "was keeping these safe for you."

Natsu and Happy saw when Lucy took her keys and placed them on her waist where they belonged. She gave him a big smile. "Thank you, Loke."

Loke returned the smile. He then said his good-byes to the three and went back to the spirit world.

"I have to go now," Happy said suddenly.

"Eh, Happy~" Lucy whined, "Why are you leaving?"

"I have something to do," The blue exceed replied. He then took the fishing equipment that was forgotten for some period of time. "Don't worry Natsu. I'll take this back. Just stay with Lushii for the rest of the day," He sniggered as he flew off.

Natsu didn't really get what Happy was up to, but was grateful that he let him spend some time with Lucy by himself. "Come with me Lucy," Natsu told her as he grabbed her by her wrist.

Lucy blinked, not sure herself of what had just happened. Her blank look, however, melted into a smile as she heard Natsu's choice of words. "Always."

* * *

**I'm so sorry! I was supposed to update last weekend because this weekend is my birthday...and then my sister's birthday so yes, busy weekend, but I just couldn't because I had to take care of some school issues...Anyways all this week I focused deeply and made it my top priority to finish up Ch. 6 for The Everlasting Bonds and Ch. 4 for My First. I don't even know how I made that work but yes! I feel accomplished for once, though I didn't get to Because You're Here like I wanted to, but there's still next week for that ^_^ so as usual thanks for the read!**


	7. Chapter 7

Natsu and Lucy finally made it to Lucy's apartment. They climbed up the stairs. As soon as Lucy opened the front door they walked in, both taking a seat across from each other at the table. They felt strange being alone together, yet there was a sense of nostalgia that made its way through the silence.

"Listen…" Natsu began while looking into Lucy's eyes. "What happened the last time we saw each other, you know, the one before you disappeared."

Immediately, Lucy knew what he was referring to. "A-ah, that time." Her mind then went back to that day when she finally mustered up the courage to confess to Natsu. She remembered the harshness in his tone…something that almost seemed surreal to Lucy. At first, she was reluctant to even come into contact with him. However, her friends reminded her of something important: the unbreakable bonds nakama share in the Fairy Tail guild. After she assured herself of that, all that was left was to face Natsu once more. She remembered that back then there were so many things she wanted to tell him. But now, sitting in front of him, all she could bring herself to say was, "Let's just forget about it. Besides, we both overreacted."

Natsu wasn't content with her reply. Although he felt relieved that things wouldn't change between them, he would've been happier if Lucy would've beat him up, or scolded him at least. Still, looking into her eyes, the many things he wanted to say to her were currently running through his mind. Natsu, however, admitted inwardly that he was never really good with words. Rather than saying everything that was running through his mind, he held Lucy's hands and said the only thing that, at the moment, he considered more important above anything else he could've said. "I'm sorry, Lucy!"

Lucy's blush faded quickly and turned into a soft smile. "Dummy, I forgave you a long time ago."

Natsu gave her an uneasy smile. "I can't forgive myself just yet."

"What do you—?" Lucy became stiff and unable to finish her sentence. Luckily, her stomach growled, easing things a bit. "A-ah," She looked away, embarrassed, "I haven't eaten since this morning."

"I haven't eaten anything either." He confessed to feeling relieved now that the short, but what felt like forever in his mind, tension had subsided. In the spirit of old times, Natsu gave Lucy a big grin. "Want me to make something?"

Moving forward with the flow of the conversation, Lucy thought about it for a while. She shook her head furiously. "I don't want burnt fish!"

"Who said I was making that!?" Natsu got up from his chair and walked over to the kitchen. He got out a pan and grabbed some meat from the refrigerator. "I'm going to make some burnt steak!"

Lucy quickly rose from her seat as soon as she felt that Natsu was indeed being serious about cooking. "Stop it!"

"Why? It's really good when you taste it."

"No way!"

The two forgot about any internal worries they were having. For the rest of the night, there was only smiles and laughter.

* * *

**-The Next Day at the Guild-**

Lucy walked in the guild. She saw Levy sitting by herself and decided to go talk to her. "Levy-chan!"

Levy placed her chocolate milkshake down gently. She wore a smile as she saw Lucy taking a seat across from her. "Lu-chan! Are you alone?"

Lucy held in a yawn, after all, Natsu didn't leave her place until very late yesterday night. In fact, when Natsu and Happy showed up in the morning, Lucy was shocked. She was even more shocked that they knocked on the door and came in through it like normal people. Thinking about it, for some reason, made her giggle. "Natsu and Happy came to pick me up from my apartment."

Levy noticed that they weren't with her. "Where are they now?"

"They said they were going on a mission. They wanted me to go with them, but I told them that I wasn't ready to go on missions yet."

Levy gave her friend a wide smile. "It's a good thing you did that Lu-chan. There's some news that you have to catch up on."

Lucy agreed to that. She prepared herself for this. She knew that a lot could've happened during the time she was gone, and truthfully, she wanted to know what happened to her friends at the guild, no matter how small it could be. "I did leave before anyone could explain to me what I missed."

Levy nodded. "But it was for the sake of seeing your second best friend."

"Second?" The blond questioned.

"Natsu is your second best friend. I'm obviously your first best friend, and you can't argue with that."

"Well…" Lucy began in an effort to joke.

"Not funny Lu-chan. Besides you can't talk to Natsu about how much you like him, am I right?" Levy smirked.

Lucy turned bright red. "L-let's not talk about that now!" It was then when Lucy noticed something. "Why isn't Gajeel with you?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't notice that until later, but since you brought it up…" Levy bit her lip. She wore a slight melancholy expression. "Gajeel and I aren't together anymore."

"Eh!?" Lucy couldn't believe her ears. She was expecting changes, but the changes in her mind weren't this drastic!

"It's true Lu-chan. I was the one who ended it."

Lucy thought back to when she and Wendy were called in by Levy. She remembered how they both helped her come up with a song just for Gajeel. The expressions of determination and love, Lucy remembered Levy wearing them. She remembered how happy Levy and Gajeel were after they got together. "Levy-chan, what exactly happened?"

"Lu-chan, first of all, I want you to promise me that you won't blame yourself for anything that has happened here at Fairy Tail, no matter what it is. Do you promise?"

Lucy couldn't fully understand where her friend was going with this, but she decided that she would agree. She must've had a good reason for making her agree to such a promise. "I promise Levy-chan."

"Promise, promise?"

"A celestial mage never breaks her promise," She told her.

Levy giggled, "If you say so. Okay, so time to get serious." Levy sat up straight and took a deep breath. "When you disappeared, many of us thought that you were dead…Not all of us thought that way though! It was because of that reason that the guild was somewhat split."

Lucy couldn't believe it. The guild was split because of her? "Levy-chan…I—"

Levy stopped her from continuing. "You promise Lu-chan."

"R-right, please continue."

Levy nodded. "I was one of those people who thought that you were still alive along with Natsu, Mira, and some others. Those that took you for dead didn't take that lightly for a variety of reasons." She sighed. "Gajeel…instead of trying to take the time to understand me, he called me delusional. He was insensitive about the whole thing! There came a point where I couldn't take it anymore Lu-chan, it was just the same thing every single time. I just had to end it."

"But Levy-chan, now that I came back you guys can—!"

Levy shook her head. "Even if you are back Lu-chan, the point was that Gajeel didn't believe me. Why would I want to go back to someone who doesn't believe me?"

"B-because you still love him! I know you do Levy-chan. How happy you two were together…it can't just end."

Levy gave the blond a small smile; she did after all, have a point. And there was no reason for denying it. "I-I still love him. I forgave him already, but things can't go back to the way they were. At least not for the moment."

Lucy couldn't argue with Levy when hearing her say that. Besides, Lucy had hope that Levy and Gajeel would reconcile because their bond was more than that of a nakama, it was more than unbreakable. Lucy though that it was something along the lines of never-ending?

"Enough of me," Levy told her with a smile. "Let's move on to something else for now. Something less bleak!"

"Okay Levy-chan."

"Hmm, let me think of something…oh! Erza and Jellal are officially together, he visits the guild sometimes, Gray and Juvia are still together, it's too bad that they all went on missions, or else they could've told you about it themselves. Not to mention, Lisanna started taking care of animals on the weekends to earn extra money, Romeo strengthened his magic, Laxus began helping Master with some of his responsibilities, and—"

Lucy giggled. "I'm glad that so many nice things have happened, despite it all."

"But we still couldn't truly be happy, we weren't truly happy until you came back. Cana couldn't even pick up a drink until recently!"

Cana heard her name and came over to their table. She sat down beside Lucy with a beer barrel in her hands. "What's this about me?"

"I was trying to catch Lucy up on all that she missed," Levy informed her.

The Strauss sisters came over immediately. "If that's the case, let us join in," Lisanna told them as she and Mira took a seat at their table as well.

"Don't you have to handle requests?" Cana asked Mira.

Mira smiled, "Kinana said she'd take care of it for a while."

"Then we can all talk!" Levy cheered.

"Our nakama are in a pretty good mood today, it almost feels as if nothing happened." Cana mentioned as she took a big gulp out of her beer barrel. The card mage looked at Lucy, "Do you know the reason why they aren't crowding around you or making a big fuss?"

Lucy shook her head, clearly clueless.

Lisanna giggled. "Let me tell her Cana!"

Cana gave her the okay.

"It's because Natsu came really early in the morning and told everyone not to. He said," Lisanna cleared her throat and tried her best to impersonate the fire dragon slayer, "If Lucy comes you guys better not bother her! Don't make her feel uncomfortable or else I'll beat you all up!"

Mira squealed with delight, "It was the most romantic thing ever!"

Levy frowned before laughing, "I wish I would've come earlier! I really want to hear that."

Lucy felt her face turn warm. "T-that idiot!"

Cana laughed. "Don't blame the guy. He just wants you all to himself."

"C-Cana!"

Cana leaned in, "You still like him, right?"

"I want to know too Lu-chan! Since you disappeared, Natsu hasn't stopped thinking about you at all. Not even for a second!"

"Levy's right," Lisanna confirmed. "He was all like Lucy this, Lucy that. It was cute!"

"He did so much for you," Mira added, "More than any of us."

Lucy smiled, "I know. That Natsu, he kept going on missions despite it all, just to pay for my rent. He really missed me and wanted me to come back, even though I couldn't remember…even though I told him that I didn't want to see his face."

"You had your reasons," Mira assured her.

"So you do still like him, right?" Cana asked again.

Lucy blushed. "I-I do!" She then put her head down. The blond thought about the celestial wizards, Yukino's disappearance, and the hooded man that attacked her the day she disappeared. "It's just, right now I can't focus on that. There are still so many things that I have to figure out."

"You're right about that," Lisanna told her.

Levy nodded, "There's still the question as to who attacked you…"

"And why," Mira said.

Cana felt her liquor getting bad. "We should be prepared if something happens."

Lucy felt the mood of the conversation go down. She didn't want that, not now at least. For now, she didn't want to worry about anything except being in the company of her very dear nakama. "L-let's not talk about that right now!" She looked at all of them, "Can you keep telling me about the guild? Any funny moments? Romance? Did Nab finally pick a request!?"

"Wait," Mira turned to the celestial mage. "Sorry Lucy, I just remembered something."

"It's okay Mira, what is it?"

"There were some people looking for you that weren't from the guild."

Levy was surprised. "People looking for Lu-chan?"

"Why is this the first that we're hearing of this?" Cana asked.

"Yes Mira-nee, you haven't said anything about that."

Mira looked at Lisanna. "I didn't tell you anything because Erza and I thought it would be best not to. Our main concern for not saying anything was because at the time, we didn't know what happened to Lucy, we also didn't know whether or not we could trust these people."

"How many were there?" Lucy asked, not sure of why people outside of the guild would be interested in her.

"There were three. Their names were Reika, Ethan, and Sting."

* * *

**I just wanted to start off by saying sorry! A lot has happened, and I won't say anything else on that. I was supposed to update this last week but couldn't so sorry, again. Anyways, I'm back now so hello everyone! This story, I feel, is a big improvement from _The Unbreakable Bonds_. Sometimes, when looking back on _The Unbreakable Bonds_, I feel that I should rewrite it, but I won't. It's special because it was my first attempt at a Fairy Tail Nalu story, and for that reason, of course _The Everlasting Bonds_ would be an improvement. Honestly, I kind of see _The Everlasting Bonds_ as more of a stand alone, more of a main story and _The Unbreakable Bonds_ as some sort of prequel. But in all, I love both of them very much. So here is another 2,000+ word chapter. And like always, thanks for the read!**

**-BlueGreen25**


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